New Delhi // Filmmakers in India are lining up to shoot movies about the Mumbai terror attacks, a move that has drawn criticism from many in Bollywood.
The Indian Motion Pictures and Producers Association (IMPPA), the governing body for registering film titles in India, has so far listed 18 titles associated with the attacks that killed about 170 people.
One project, 26/11 at Mumbai Operation, is due to start shooting next month. The film will go into the source of the attacks and its toll on the lives of ordinary citizens.
According to Ujwala Londhe, of IMPPA, the first title was registered on Nov 28, a day before the siege ended. Vijay Verma, a filmmaker from the Hyderabad-based Salt and Pepper Entertainment, registered 26/11 at Mumbai Operation.
Mr Verma said it was his responsibility as a filmmaker to chronicle the event. "I don't want people to forget the incident. We suffer, and tend to forget quickly, till another tragedy strikes us."
Though he has not finalised the cast for the film, Mr Verma is trying to sign Naseerudin Shah, a veteran Bollywood actor, to play the lead role of a police officer.
According to the IMPPA, the titles listed so far include 26 Taj, Taj 26, Taj and Oberoi, The Taj Encounter, 48 hours at Taj, Taj Terror, Bird's Point of View of Taj Terror, City of Crime, 26/11 Mumbai under Terror, 11/26 Operation Taj, Black Tornado and Operation Five-Star Mumbai. Industry insiders said another 16 producers are planning to make films about the attacks.
The forthcoming films have drawn flak from many in the Bollywood fraternity.
"I am disappointed that such a thing is happening," said B B Nagpal, a New Delhi-based film critic and journalist. "It is too early to make a film on the tragedy. We should make a difference while depicting and glorying violence."
He said with the investigations still going on, filmmakers had to be careful with legal issues surrounding the case. "The matter is sub judice and there is a suspected Pakistan role in the attacks. One has to fictionalise the plot to avoid censure."
B Subhash, the director of the Bollywood blockbuster Disco Dancer, is also planning a film, 26 Taj, about the Mumbai attacks.
Mr Subhash said his film would be about the human emotions involved rather than the political repercussions.
"For me, creative art is about evolving emotions and emotions are always interesting. I am making a film because there were human emotions involved in the attack rather than political bargains.
"We can call an enemy an enemy without naming him."
However, the public may not have an appetite for movies so soon after the attacks. A day after the siege ended, Ram Gopal Verma, a filmmaker, along with the state's chief minister, visited the ravaged hotels. There were allegations that Ram Gopal Verma's visit was facilitated by the state to give him first-hand experience of the attacks to help him build a plot for a film. The controversy around the visit forced the minister to resign.
Ram Gopal Verma has not confirmed he is making a film on the attacks.
Turning real-life incidents into reel life is not a new phenomenon in the US$6 billion (Dh22bn) Bollywood industry. Mumbai Meri Jaan, Wednesday, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Shoot on Sight, Black Friday, Ab Tak Chhappan and last year's award-winning Parzania are based on real-life characters and were successful at the box office.
However, many people in Bollywood believe the industry has contributed a lot to bridge the divide between India and Pakistan.
One actor, Akshay Khana, recently declined the role of a Pakistan-bashing protagonist in a film, drawing praise from Bollywood. Many films made in the late 1990s played on anti- Pakistan sentiment.
Pakistan this year lifted a 43-year ban on the screening of Bollywood films. The Indian government reciprocated by allowing the screening of the first Pakistani film. Khuda Kay life, which was produced by Shoaib Mansoor, a Pakistani filmmaker, was widely acclaimed in India and was followed by another film, RamChand Pakistani, which looked at the plight of Indian and Pakistani prisoners.
In addition to the filmmakers, a New Delhi-based group of computer game developers is considering developing a game based on the attacks. The group has yet to decide on a name but hopes the game will be available by the end of next year.
Pritish Banerjee, who leads the game developers, said: "Considering the damage which was caused during the attacks, every Indian has developed extreme hatred towards terrorists and an overwhelming feeling of revenge.
"But you are supposed to use tit-for-tat tactics, so we came up with an idea to develop a computer game to give vent to the anger by eliminating the perpetrators, though digitally."
* The National
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
The specs
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
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Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
